Cowa LLC Boosts Stake in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Key Points

• Cowa LLC increased its stake in Walmart Inc. by 20.9% in Q1, now holding 14,717 shares valued at approximately $1.29 million.
• Walmart reported a Q1 EPS of $0.61, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue totaling $165.61 billion, marking a 2.5% year-over-year increase.
• The company recently declared a dividend of $0.235 per share, with an ex-dividend date set for August 15th, reflecting a 90.0% yield.

Cowa LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 20.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,717 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,549 shares during the quarter. Cowa LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $1,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 319.7% in the first quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 98.2% during the first quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 337 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its position in shares of Walmart by 432.4% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 362 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Lipe & Dalton raised its position in shares of Walmart by 95.2% during the first quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 410 shares of the retailer's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total transaction of $1,248,712.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 932,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,700,258.82. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.58, for a total value of $1,855,781.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,412,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $421,737,000.84. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,334 shares of company stock worth $13,913,350 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $99.96. The stock had a trading volume of 13,595,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,649,504. The firm has a market cap of $797.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.72, a PEG ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $97.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.52 and a 52 week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 90.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Walmart's payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Walmart from $112.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Walmart from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $109.29.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.